1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printing setting apparatuses, printing apparatuses, and recording media, and more particularly to a printing setting apparatus that makes (determines) settings with respect to printing of printing data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus, a printing apparatus such as a printer that prints the printing data from the printing setting apparatus, and a computer-readable recording medium having a program recorded therein for implementing functions (related to the present invention) of a computer that controls the printing setting apparatus and the printing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ground pattern printing is a known technique for distinguishing a copy from its original or preventing the original from being copied. There are two known methods of ground pattern printing. One is adding a ground pattern with a printer driver. This has the advantage that all fonts installed in a host such as a personal computer (PC) are available although job data (printing data) increase in size. The other is adding a ground pattern with a printer. This has the advantage that the job data between the host and the printer can be reduced in size although available fonts are limited.
These two methods have their respective advantages and disadvantages, so that they are often used together.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications No. 2001-324898, No. 2005-006169, and No. 2006-331203 show adding a ground pattern to printing data on the host side and printing the printing data with the ground pattern in a printing apparatus in order to distinguish a copy from its original.
However, the conventional techniques have a problem in that when both methods are used together, a ground pattern is added by the printer driver and a ground pattern is also added by the printer, so that both ground patterns may overlap to prevent an output result from functioning as ground patterns. This opens a loophole in security and causes a problem in such an environment as an office handling critical documents, where a system administrator requires printing to be always accompanied by adding a ground pattern.